7 Things You Need To Stop Doing To Be More Productive, Backed By Science

Working smarter, not harder, is the key to better results

Tim Gouw on Unsplash

When I was 17 years old, I used to work and study for about 20 hours a day. I went to school, did my homework during breaks, and managed a not-for-profit organization at night. At that time, working long hours landed me countless national campaigns, opportunities to work with A-list organizations, and a successful career. As I got older, I started to think differently. I realized that working more is not always the right, or only, path to success.

Sometimes, working less can actually produce better results.

Consider a small business owner who works nonstop. Working hard won't help them compete with their corporate competitors. That's because time is a limited commodity. An entrepreneur could work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but their competitor can always spend more money, assemble a team, and spend a lot more collective person hours on the same project. Then why have small startups accomplished things that some larger corporations couldn't? Facebook bought Instag…